A man who used his IT expertise to launch cyber-attacks on the websites of Oxford and Cambridge universities has been jailed for two years.

Lewys Martin, 21, formerly of Dover Road, Walmer, Kent, also knocked Kent police's public-facing website offline for more than an hour during an attempt to bring it down.

He pleaded guilty at Maidstone crown court last month to nine charges, including committing "unauthorised acts with intent to impair operation of or prevent/hinder access to a computer" and "unauthorised access to computer material", Kent police said.

Martin tried to disrupt the websites of Cambridge and Oxford universities by overwhelming them with requests for information between 29 January and 1 February.

Police said the universities had "solid protection programmes" in place and, although no sensitive information was disclosed, their websites were offline for up to an hour and 20 minutes.

Then on 1 and 2 February, Kent police suffered an attack at the hands of Martin, leading to its public-facing website also going offline temporarily for an hour and 17 minutes.

Martin was arrested and charged in November last year before admitting his crimes last month. Following sentencing on Thursday, detectives said cybercrime was a "nuisance" which could cause serious damage to organisations.

It has been estimated that two weeks' worth of man hours were spent dealing with the cyber-attacks on the websites of Oxford and Cambridge universities.

Detective Constable Nicky Holland-Day, of Kent police, said: "Cyber-attacks are a nuisance and cause aggravation as well as costs to countless private and public organisations up and down the country.

"Most websites have systems in place to prevent them being compromised, and none of those attacked in these instances suffered any more than a temporary disruption.

"However, those who try to carry out these attacks will be traced and brought before the courts, like Martin, to face the consequence of their actions."